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The views expressed in this blog are my own and not that of any company, association or organization.

MICE in Europe – Going East ?

Go West Young Man!, the exhortation penned by an Indiana newspaperman, John Soule in the middle of 19th century to look for a new life of promise may have to be turned 180 degrees for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) market. The Financial Times reports in its May 12th edition that “Meetings industry looks to the east”. Some of the principal reasons have been the “US credit squeeze and travel limitations within the financial and pharmaceutical sectors”. Mice has been moving towards “Central and Eastern Europe, because of improved infrastructure and transport links – and in particular to Poland, Hungary and Lithuania.”

An interesting observation in the FT article is that “Airport destinations are becoming more popular because people are struggling with transport and, providing these hotels are of the right quality and venue, that will continue. Using airport venues often means that organisers can reduce the length of an event by a night – and that is cost-effective too.” While the US still leads the world in the MICE market, airport hotels in the US are less equipped to step-in a softening economic environment and capture some of the business which may otherwise contract. The US should also take note of the success of Dubai as one of the fastest growing meeting destinations in the world as the recently concluded IMEX show in Frankfurt, Germany showed.

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Vijay Dandapani

Co-founder and president of a New York based hotel company for 24 years. Grew the firm to five hotels in Manhattan and also developed a greenfield project at MacArthur airport, New York. Speaker at numerous prestigious forums including Economy Hotels World Asia, Lodging Conference, NYU, Columbia University Real Estate Roundtable, Baruch College's Zicklin School and ALIS.President and ceo of New York City Hotel Association since January 2017. View all posts by Vijay Dandapani